Pleasure-railway.



G. L. CARRUTHERS.

PLEASURE RAILWAY. APPLICATION FILED IAN-26.1915.

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

., WASHINGTON. n. c.

G. L. CARRUTHERS.

PLEASURE RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-26' 1915. v

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH COHWASHXNUTONI D. C.

G. L. CARRUTHERS.

PLEASURE RAILWAY.

APPLICATIQN FILED mu.2e.1915.

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

PLEASURE-RAILWAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

Application filed. January 26, 1915. Serial No. 4,488.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE L. OAR- RUTHERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pine Blufi, in the county of Jef ferson and State of Arkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pleasure-Railways; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to pleasure railways and the primary object is the pro-vision of a pleasure railway embodying a figure eight track which is positioned horizontally, one section of the track above the other one, whereby cars traveling therein will move horizontally or from side to side instead of up and down or in dips, as is ordinary in the construction of pleasure railways of this nature.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel form of pleasure railway cars of ordinary construction for connecting ling medium of the pleasure railway.

With the foregoing and other objects in view this invention consists in such novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and claimed.

In describing the invention in, detail reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a topplan view of the improved pleasure railway, Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the improved railway, Fig. 3 is a cross section through the railway, Fig. 4: is a fragmentary central longitudinal section through the improved railway, Fig. 5 is a detail side elevation of one of the cars used on the pleasure railway, Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the car.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates the supporting structure of the pleasure railway, which is constructed of any suitable material having side rails 2 and 3. The structure 1 has secured to the upper surface of its terminal ends platforms 4 and 5. The platforms 4 and 5 have track supporting platforms 6 and 7 connected thereto and extending from one platform to bracket attachable to the cars to the propelings 15 intermediate the other, said track supporting platforms being supported in any suitablemanner by braces 8. The track supporting platforms 6 and 7 are disposed in horizontal planes, one above the other, and they have their ends inclined, as is shown at 9 and 10 in the drawings, so as to form a sinuous track, which travels above the upper surface of the platforms 4 and 5 in substantial semi-circles The platforms 6 and 7 extend from one platform tothe other and cross intermediate their ends. The platforms 6 and 7 have car 7 guiding flanges 10 mounted upon their upper surfaces, which guiding flanges are formed in sinuous curves, so as to cause the cars 11 which are traveling therein to travel in a horizontal sinuous path for adding unnatural motion to the cars and increasing the pleasure of riding therein.

The tracks or car guiding flanges 10 are upstanding or project vertically from the platforms 6 and 7 and are braced by suitable braces. 12, which are secured to the platforms 6 and 7, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1. The supporting structure 1 has upstandmg or Vertical standards 13 secured to its sides adjacent its ends, which standards support horizontally disposed cross pieces 14:. The cross pieces 14 are provided with beartheir ends, in which ride vertical shafts l6 and 17. The shafts l6 and 17 have concave pulleys 18 and 19 respectively mounted thereon. A propelling cable travels about the pulleys 18 and 19 and rides in their concaved faces, and to which chain or cable is connected the cars 11 which travel between, the sinuous car guiding flanges 10.

The shaft 16 has a beveled gear 22 mounted thereon, which meshes with a second beveled gear 23. The beveled gear 23 is mounted upon one end of a horizontally disposed shaft 24 supported by any suitable type of hanger 25. The shaft 24: may be con nected in any suitable manner to any suitable primemover (not shown), which sup plies the necessary power for rotating the shaft 16v and consequently the pulley '18 which is mounted thereupon. The rotation of the pulley 18 is imparted to the pulley 19 by the cable or chain 21.

The pulleys 19 have casters supported wheels 28 secured to the under surface of their rims, which wheels or casters ride upon the upper surface of the platforms or swivelly l and 5 for strengthening and supporting the pulleys 18 and 19, and increasing the respectively project upwardly above the base of the seat 30, forming side rails and back rests respectively for the seat. The cars 11 have'swivelly supported wheels 33 secured to the bottom 341 thereof,.which wheels ride upon the upper surface of the track supporting platforms 6' and 7.

' The 'cars 11 have brackets 35 secured to their sides, which brackets rotatably support anti-friction rollers 36. The rollers 36 engagethe inner sideof the vertical track 10 for decreasing the friction betweenthe sides of the car and the inner sides of the walls of the tracks and for properly guiding the ears about the sinuous curves of the track.

Each of the cars 11 have brackets '38 sej cured to'the outer surface of their ends,

which brackets are provided for attaching a plurality of bracket arms 39 to the ends of the cars. "The bracket arms 39 are braced by suitable bracing rods 10 which are secured to the ends of the car in any suitable manner and extend outwardly therefrom .being secured to the under surface of the horizontal portions of the bracket arms 39.

j The outer terminals of the bracket arms 39 extend vertically from the horizontal portions thereof! The upstanding vertical end 41 "of the bracket arms 39 have clampsr? e clamps 42' are formed of resilient material and they are curved upwardly and downwardly to form'clamps for clamping engagement with the propelling chain or cable 21. The clamps 42 are tightened upon the pro pelling chain or cable 21 by an adjusting nut 43 upon bolts 44, which latter bolts exemployed without departing from the spirit tend through the clamps, as is clearly shown in the drawings.

' VVhile in the foregoing drawings only two sections of tracks one disposed above the other one, have beenv shown, it is to be understood that any desired number of sections disposed one above the other one, may be ofthis invention.

Any suitable type of platform may be em- I I I ployed for permitting access to the cars by pasengers desiring to ride therein.

The travel ,of the cars may be controlled by the starting or stopping of the prime mover (not shown) In the operation of the improved pleasurerailwayz When it is desired to operate 'the device, the cars are attached tothe propelling chain or cable 21, formovement therewith, by tightening the clamp 42 to theoonveyer cable or chain and starting the prime mover. During the travel of the cars,

pleasure railway will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains and, while in the foregoing description, the principle of the opera tion of this invention has been described together with various features of construction, it is to be understood that certain minor changes of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be altered to suit practical conditions provided such alterations are comprehended within the scope of what is claimed.

. What is claimed is 1. In a pleasure railway, a supporting structure, platforms carried by the ends of said supporting structure, and track supporting platforms extending from one of said end carried platforms to the other and being disposed in horizontal planes, and sinuously curved space flanges mounted upon the upper surfaces of said horizontally disposed track supporting platforms and forming a car guiding track.

2. In a pleasure railway, a supporting structure, a track supporting platform carried by said supporting structure in a horizontal plane, said track supporting platform being provided with inclines at its ends and positioned in sections one above the other and crossing intermediate of their ends, and upstanding sinuously curved spaced car guiding flanges mounted upon said track supporting platform.

3. In a pleasure railway, a supporting structure, a track-supporting platform carried by said supporting structure in a horizontal plane, said track supporting platform being provided with inclines at its ends and positioned in sections one above the other and crossing intermediate of their ends, and upstanding sinuously curved spaced car guiding flanges mounted upon said track supporting platform, pulleys rotatable in a horizontal plane supported by said supporting structure, a propelling element passing about said pulleys, and pleasure cars detachably attached to said conveying element for movement about said sinuously curved track.

4:. In a pleasure railway, a supporting structure, a track carrying platform supported by said supporting structure and being positioned in a horizontal plane, upstanding sinuously curved spaced car guiding flanges carried by said track supporting platform, pleasure cars for travel about said track, said pleasure cars having anti-friction rollers mounted upon their sides for engagement with the inner Walls of said upstanding tracks for guiding said cars about the sinuous curves of said track, and means for propelling said cars about said track.

5. In a pleasure railway, a supporting structure, a track supporting platform carried by said supporting structure-and positioned in a horizontal plane, upstanding sinuously curved spaced car guiding flanges carried by said track carrying platform, pleasure cars for travel about said track, said pleasure cars having swiveled wheels s mounted upon their under surface, and vertically disposed rotatable anti-friction rollers mounted upon its sides for engagement with the inner walls of said upstanding track for guiding said cars about said track, brackets secured to the ends of said cars and having clamps formed upon their outer upper end, a propelling cable, said clamp being provided for clamping engagement upon said cable for carrying said cars about said track.

In testimony whereof I affix in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE L. OARRUTHERS.

l/Vitnesses:

M. C. CLEVELAND, R. B. CovmGToN.

my signature Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

